Muggle Studies Magic
by fuzzyfirebunny
Summary: Lily and James are forced to complete a Muggle Studies project together but neither has any idea who the other is! Despite herself, Lily begins to open her heart to the stranger...but will James' good luck last? LJ, SBOC. My first fic! :D [Complete!]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Oi, Evans! Will you go out with me?"

Lily Evans rolled her eyes for the fifth time that day upon hearing the question. "Get lost, Potter!" she yelled back in reply.

James Potter, a tall boy with messy black hair and brilliant hazel eyes, ran to catch up with her. "Come on, Evans. You know you want to!"

"I'd sooner go out with the giant squid," Lily informed him, hoisting her schoolbag further up her shoulder. Really, he stuck to her like Zonko's superglue.

"Oh, that hurts, Evans," James said, gripping his chest in mock pain.

"Good," Lily retorted, and broke out into a rapid run across the grounds for the castle. James watched her go regretfully.

"Still no luck, Prongs?" his best mate, Sirius Black, said, coming up to him.

"She could at least give me a chance," James said, sounding defeated.

"You act like a total git around her, Prongsie," Sirius told his friend matter-of-factly. He grinned. "Me, now…I'm smooth. Suave. And Lily's pretty hot if you think about it." He glanced after her retreating figure slyly.

James gritted his teeth. "You wouldn't dare."

Sirius laughed and clapped him on the back. "If it weren't for the fact that you'd have me hung by my ears on McGonagall's chandelier for a month, I would."

"Oh, I'd do much worse than that, believe me," James muttered, following Sirius' gaze.

Sirius gazed at his friend thoughtfully. James had been chasing Lily since their second year at Hogwarts, and Lily had been refusing him for almost as long. The two were infamous for their heated arguments—when James wasn't busy mooning over her, that is.

Lily headed into the castle, feeling a sense of relief now that James Potter was gone. He was the very epitome of everything she hated in a wizard: proud, arrogant, sure of himself, and—she would rather have died than admit this—but sinfully good looking, and he knew it.

Half the school was in love with him, Lily knew, and there were dozens of girls who would die to be in her place. Still, she resolved, she would keep her sanity, even if no one else in this school did!

"Hey, Lils," her best friend, Emma, came up to her and nudged her playfully. "C'mon! We'll be late for Potions."

The Potions master, Professor Slughorn, was a short, slightly chubby man who was particularly fond of Lily. He beamed at the two girls as they entered the classroom. "Ah, Miss Evans! Perhaps you could tell us what this is?"

He gestured to the boiling cauldron that was standing on his desk. The entire class was gathered around it, staring curiously into the bubbling gold contents.

Lily headed over with Emma, looking at the liquid. She sniffed delicately, and smelled the scent of blooming flowers. "It's Amortentia, Professor," Lily answered. "A powerful love drought that brings on a feeling of strong infatuation in the person who drinks it, for the first person of the opposite gender she or he sees."

Professor Slughorn smiled fondly at his student. "Right as always, Miss Evans. Fifteen points to Gryffindor." He wagged a finger at the class, who had by now taken their seats. "Now, brewing Amortentia unsupervised is deemed illegal by the Ministry; however, I thought it wise that you should learn how this incredibly dangerous potion works."

At this moment, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter burst into the room. Even arriving ten minutes late to class, the Marauders still had that aura of self confidence and arrogance—except maybe Peter, who was shyer and kept to himself.

Professor Slughorn took no notice of them, and the four boys slid into their seats with sighs of relief.

"Looks like Sluggy's in a good mood today," Sirius whispered to James, making a show of taking out his cauldron and materials.

"Yeah," James whispered back. "Probably cause of Evans."

Sirius grinned. "Well, I'm not complaining! She saved us from getting busted."

"Yeah…" James stared at the flame of red hair that spread over Lily's shoulders and down her back. Then suddenly, he noticed the boiling cauldron. "What in the world is that?"

Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Dunno, but it smells like Celine Markel's perfume times ten." Celine Markel, the prettiest, preppiest, and most popular girl in the school, was known for her excessive makeup and cosmetics.

James smirked. "Touché."

Slughorn glared at the two boys, and James and Sirius quickly shut up. "Well, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, perhaps you two could explain where Amortentia comes from?"

Amortentia! That was what it was! While Sirius rolled his eyes and tried to look abashed, James replied smoothly, "Amortentia's main ingredient comes from the juice of the petals of the Hawthorne Rose, which is very rare and grows only in Switzerland."

Professor Slughorn looked surprised but pleased. "Very good, Mr. Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor."

James grinned, catching Sirius' eye. He glanced over at Lily, who was looking at him with an expression of surprise as well. After a few seconds, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned back around.

James grinned at his best friend. "Only a matter of time, Padfoot." Sirius nudged him. Professor Slughorn was talking again.

"Now, the lot of you will be trying to brew a small cauldron of Amortentia," Slughorn said cheerfully. "Of course, I don't really expect anyone to get it perfect—except perhaps Miss Evans. However, you will be graded on this, so take it seriously. Any questions? No? Get started, then!"

"Amortentia sure would be handy sometimes," James whispered to Sirius as they headed up front to collect the ingredients of the potion.

Sirius smirked. "Thinking of using it on Evans, eh?"

"No way," hissed James, grabbing a vial of the Hawthorne Rose juice. "Although if I had some, conveniently…"

"Now boys," Professor Slughorn faced the two Marauders, who stood innocently looking at him. "Let me tell you that Amortentia, brewed even the least bit incorrectly, will not work and is potentially fatal." He raised his eyes. "Don't get any ideas."

An hour later, Lily was done. She brought up a sample of her potion to Professor Slughorn, who examined it carefully and whispered something to her. Looking pleased, Lily slid back into her seat.

"Now, Evans, try to control your overwhelming love and don't use any of that on me," James told her.

Lily snorted and threw her Potions book into her backpack. "No way, Potter. If I had to, I'd use it on Remus here." She winked at Remus and left the room, leaving James stunned.

"What's between you and Lily?" James demanded later, as they walked together out of the classroom.

Remus gave a silent sigh. He'd known this was coming for the past half hour, judging from the glares and dirty looks he'd gotten from James. "Relax, James. She just said it to tease you."

James looked at his friend warily. "You know her?"

"We're friends, yeah," Remus said, carelessly chucking a quill into his bag. He gave it a disgruntled look. "I need to make another trip down to Flourish and Blots."

"Wait-wait," James rushed after Remus. "How come she likes you and not me?"

Remus turned and looked patiently at his friend. "Cause you act like a git around her, that's why."

"Have you and Padfoot been taking mind reading powder?" James demanded, looking irritated. "He said the same thing to me this morning!"

Remus' eyes showed a spark of laughter. "Maybe that means it's true, then."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lily and Emma walked quickly back to their dormitories, since it was getting late and the curfew bell would be sounding soon. The two friends chatted animatedly as they set off at a brisk pace towards the dorms.

"Pellion says she has a surprise for us tomorrow," Emma commented with a wry smile. "You know what that means."

Lily groaned. Muggle Studies was not her hardest subject, by far, but it was certainly a rather dull one. Their teacher, Professor Pellion, was a dreary old witch who seemed to be constantly on a draught of sleeping potion.

Lily's other friends, Alice and Riley, were already back at the dorms, chatting. Alice was a short, kind girl with shoulder length brown hair. Riley was almost her complete opposite. She was medium height, with heavy ebony colored hair that went down almost to her waist, roguish blue eyes, and a wicked sense of humor. Lily grinned at them fondly as she dropped her bag on her bed with a grateful sigh and sat down.

The next day was a rainy one, and Lily grimaced inwardly as she and Emma walked to their classroom. As they walked in, they noticed that something was different. Students were gaping at Professor Pellion, who looked oddly awake for once, and the room didn't have its usual musty odor.

"Now, students," Pellion said once the bell had rung, "I, personally, am very excited about this upcoming project."

James turned and rolled his eyes at Sirius, who gave him a similar expression in return. Lily, glancing over, would have rather died than acknowledge it, but she had to admit that the two were right for once.

Professor Pellion frowned at the group of Marauders, as though suspecting they were making mischief, but then turned away again. "In this project," she continued, as though there had been no interruption, "you will be paired up with another student who is unbeknownst to you. As following the Muggle way, you will write letters to each other. At the end of the project, you will all compare letters and hopefully learn something about each other." She smiled brightly at the students.

Emma caught Lily's eye and winced. "How fun," she mouthed, rolling her eyes. Lily grinned.

"Hey, Evans," James whispered. Lily gritted her teeth and cursed the gods for putting him in a seat behind her.

"What do you want?" she hissed back, trying to sound as angry as she could. "I'm trying to take notes here!"

James raised an eyebrow, and Lily blushed. "Okay, fine. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to talk during class!"

"This'll be quick, I promise," James answered with a sly smile. "Do you want to be my partner?"

Lily stared at him in disbelief. Honestly, how thick was he? "I think Pellion said that the purpose of this project," she said deliberately, "was to _not _know who our partners were!"

James thought about that for a minute, shrugged, and answered, "So?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm not even going to answer that with a comment."

"Miss Evans!" Professor Pellion's voice made Lily jump. "Talking during class, are we? Ten points from Gryffindor!"

Lily seethed, glared at that arrogant toerag of a human being behind her, and promptly turned her back on him. James grinned apologetically but wasn't fazed. He knew that he'd win all the points back in the next Quidditch game. Easy as that.

Emma shot her friend a sympathetic look. "Ouch," she whispered, but grinned anyways. Her grin lasted only about five seconds, though, as Sirius promptly jabbed her in the ribs by "accident" with his wand while he was trying to produce a bubble figure.

"Your letters are due every day at the beginning of class," Professor Pellion continued cheerfully. She opened her mouth to continue, but thankfully for all the students, the bell rang. With a sigh of relief, Lily and Emma headed out the door.

Later that night at the common room, Lily pondered what to write. The Gryffindor common room was isolated, since it was late. She shrugged guiltily—if she hadn't been so absorbed in he book earlier, she'd be in bed too.

Lily sighed and began to write.

_Dear Pen Pal,_

_Well I guess we're not supposed to tell each other who we are, so I think I'll call myself…EmeraldFyre. I'm Muggle born, yes, but if you think I'm stupid and witless you're quite mistaken. Anyways, I don't have a great interest in this project and if you do, you're quite crazy in my book. For the sake of a grade, though…_

_I enjoy reading and running. Yes, I know that sounds a little odd, but reading brings me to another world and running just makes me feel free. Besides, it's a nice break from hours of studying._

_I really can't think of anything else to say, so I think I'll go to bed._

_Yours,_

_EmeraldFyre_

"What are you doing up so late, Evans?" the voice of Lily's least favorite person sounded in the common room just as she finished up her letter.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm finishing up homework," Lily retorted, edging away from him.

James walked over to her. "Charming Lilyflower, is this seat open?" he drawled lazily, gesturing to the couch.

Lily glared at him. "Yes, and this one will be too if you sit down."

James took no notice and took a seat anyways. Lily sighed with exasperation and edged away from him.

"That project Professor Pellion gave sounds awfully exciting, doesn't it?" he asked, scooting over.

Lily was uncomfortably aware of how his lean, muscled body pressing against hers was making her pulse speed up. "I-I…yes," she flustered, trying to regain her wits. James grinned, as though he knew the effect he was having on her.

"Stop that," Lily said regally, as he began to stroke her hair.

To her surprise, James immediately moved away and (could she be seeing things?) gave an inaudible but disappointed sigh. "I guess I'll go up to bed now," he said, looking into Lily's wide emerald eyes.

"Okay," Lily said, the word coming out a little cooler than she intended. She clenched her fists.

James turned, gave her a small half smile, and disappeared up the stairs into the boys' dormitories.

Lily let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Since when had James Potter been able to make her feel this way?


	3. Chapter 3

Professor Pellion took the Muggle Studies project she had assigned very seriously, as several unlucky students found out the first day. She demanded the letters on her desk as soon as the bell rang.

Sirius exchanged a horrified glance with Remus. "Blimey, Moony! I thought the old bat was kidding about this!"

Remus suppressed a grin as he lay his hand-sealed envelope on Professor Pellion's desk. "Let me guess, Padfoot. You didn't write the letter?"

Sirius hastily grabbed a piece of parchment and pointed his wand at it. He muttered a few words, which promptly appeared on the parchment in neat, lined writing.

Remus glared at him. "Sirius! That's cheating, you know!"

Sirius grinned smugly. "Tell me something I don't know, Moony. You're just jealous cause for once I'm going to get a better grade than you."

Sure enough, Remus did look slightly disgruntled as Sirius placed his roll of parchment on the desk.

Professor Pellion bustled in, her eyes sharp and alert. She faced the class as the bell rang, and everyone settled into their seats.

"Now, I clearly informed you all the previous class that no magic was to be used in these letters," Pellion said sternly, surveying the class. Her gaze rested for a moment on Sirius, who shifted uncomfortably.

She waved her wand over the pile of letters on her desk. "Apprendio!"

Sirius perfectly rolled parchment floated up in the air, glowed a bright red, and promptly tore itself to pieces. Sirius gaped at her, openmouthed, while Remus tried hard not to snigger.

"Mr. Black, fifteen points from Gryffindor in an ill attempt at cheating," Pellion said carelessly as the shredded pieces of Sirius' letter began attacking him. Sirius scowled, burned the pieces in one swift motion of his wand, and sank down lower in his seat.

"She's got you there, mate," James whispered over to his best friend. Sirius made a face at him.

"The old bat has really cracked this time," he whispered back. With an expressive pout (making half the girls in the classroom swoon), Sirius turned his back haughtily on James and began doodling on his parchment.

At the end of class, Lily clutched her letter, curious despite herself to see what it said. She broke open the gold seal, and a smell of cinnamon and apples wafted out. Eagerly, she read:

_My unknown friend,_

_Okay, so honestly, I think this whole letter thing is baloney and a humongous waste of my time. However, so as not to hurt your feelings and make you go crying into the loo, I'll try and write something meaningful._

_Ha! Who am I kidding? Oh well. Okay, here goes. I'm five foot eight, and my best friends and I are pretty mischievous. Don't get me wrong, though. We're all good guys (oops, I guess that gave away my gender) at heart. Like, we've done some pretty nice things and we never go so far as to actually hurt anybody._

_I'm a huge Quidditch fan, and I flatter myself I'm pretty good at it. By the way, whoever this is, come support our game next week! I don't care if you're a Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin (GAG), you know Gryffindor will win. The only reason Slytherin's won for the past two years is because I wasn't on the team._

_Blimey, I smell turkey down in the kitchens. Sorry unknown friend, but between you and food, I'll pick food any day._

_Yours,_

_Handsome Stranger_

Lily finished reading the letter and folded it back up, a smile on her face. Apparently this guy was cute, roguish, and had a great sense of humor. She shrugged. There were far worse pen pals she could've gotten.

"Who'd you get, Riley?" Lily asked her friend as they headed down to the Great Hall together.

Riley looked disgruntled. "Some arrogant berk who spent the entire letter ranting about himself," she said, rolling her eyes. She sighed and gave the letter over to Lily, who read:

_Dear charming person,_

_You have been fortunate enough to receive me as your "pen pal!" (That is what Pellion called it…isn't it? That old bat…) Well anyways, I will have you know that the entire school swoons after me and you are probably no different. When you realize who I am at the end of this project, you will promptly fall to your knees (if you don't faint, that is)._

_Anyways, if you're a bloke, disregard that entire first paragraph. And also, don't even think about trying to imitate me. Aha! I know! I got you there, didn't I? I, handsome and highly sought after man that I am, can also read minds. You know it._

_So anyways, assuming you're a girl, you're hot, and you're single, do contact me._

_Yours,_

_Dashing_

Lily chuckled. "You probably got Potter," she said, patting her friend sympathetically on the back. "That's too bad, Riley."

Riley shrugged. "Well, he was pretty funny," she admitted, stuffing her letter inside her bookbag. "Made me laugh with the sheer stupidity of it."

Now it was Lily's turn to roll her eyes. "Dear Merlin, Riley, that's got Potter written all over it. Tone him down a notch for me, will you?"

Riley's smile was impish. "Believe me, I will."

Meanwhile, in the boys' dormitories, Sirius and James were reading over their letters. Neither wanted to admit it, but the letters intrigued them. Sirius especially.

He studied the blunt, no-nonsense writing. "She's a girl with a lot of spunk," Sirius decided admiringly.

James rolled his eyes. "Padfoot, you've already gone out with forty seven girls. Why do you have to go after this one too?"

Sirius looked hurt. "Jamesie-poo! I'm insulted that you think I've gone out with forty seven girls."

James looked at his best friend in surprise. "Really? You haven't gone out with forty seven girls?"

Sirius' grin returned as he carefully folded up his letter. "Nope. It's fifty seven." He turned to James, expecting an exasperated expression.

James promptly hexed him.

"Blimey!" Sirius exclaimed fifteen minutes later, as he finally managed to get rid of the tickling hex. "I just figured out who this girl is!"

James nibbled on a piece of his Chocolate Frog absently. "Oh?"

Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "It's Lily!"

A/N: Mwahaha! I think this is going to turn out to be a very interesting fic indeed…But I promise, if you review, I'll update faster. :D puppy dog eyes Pleeeeaaaassee?

And I hope the whole Sirius/Lily/Riley/James letter thing isn't getting too confusing. If it is, somebody tell me before I mess this whole thing up!

ily,

Jo


	4. Chapter 4

"_**WHAT?!?!**_" James roared a millisecond after he heard Sirius pronounce those words. He stormed around furiously, causing Sirius to cower down into a corner and start growing a fuzzy black tail.

"What's going on?" Remus and Peter entered, their robes splattered with dirt.

James paused in his ranting long enough to acknowledge his friends. "I'll tell you what," he said furiously, pointing at Sirius, who by this time was starting to grow pointy, fuzzy black ears as a result of his nervousness.

"Padfoot here got Evans as his pen pal!" James said, glaring hard at his best friend. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"Well," Remus began changing out of his robe, "you don't know for sure that Padfoot has Evans," he pointed out reasonably.

"What happened to you lot?" James asked, beginning to calm down a bit. He gestured to Remus and Peter's dirty robes.

Remus gave a long, drawn out sigh. "Well, we got assigned the Mandrake lab in Herbology today, so…"

James nodded understandingly. It was impossible to change Mandrakes without coming out looking like you had just been run over by a bus.

"So what if Sirius has Evans?" Peter, who was now tangled up in his robes, squeaked.

James looked at him with the expression of someone teaching a four year old. "Wormtail. If you don't have anything intelligent to say, don't say it at all."

"Right," Peter mumbled, retreating into the bathroom to untangle himself.

"Okay," Remus changed into a fresh robe in relief. "Now, Sirius—why do you think it's Lily?"

"Arf—I mean, I can tell by the tone of the letter," Sirius said smugly. He patted his head gratefully, realizing that the ears and the tail were starting to recede somewhat.

"He can't have Evans," James said, sounding defeated. He sat down on the bed glumly. "He'll make her think we're all a bunch of idiots!"

("Hey!" Sirius exclaimed. The other two ignored him.)

Remus shook his head as he finished reading Sirius' letter and handed it back to him. "I don't know, you guys…somehow I don't think this is Lily."

James grabbed the letter for the first time and read: (A/N: this is Riley's letter, BTW)

_Dear guy or girl or whoever you are,_

_Hi! It's nice to "meet" you, I guess. Pellion said to tell you something about ourselves…so here goes. (Not that you really care, anyways)_

_I'm pretty short, around five foot four or maybe five. I'm Muggle born, but if you're one of those pureblood fanatics, then sod off because I'm pretty sure I can kick your arse in pretty much everything. Oops, I guess that sounded slightly conceited. Oh well._

_I'm a pretty big Quidditch fan, to tell the truth. Not very many people know, but I play every summer at my friend's house, and I've gotten pretty good these past few years. I've never played on the Quidditch team before, but I plan to try out for Keeper next year. Go Gryffindor!_

_Yours (well, not really),_

_Diva_

James finished reading and stared at the letter. Lily was a Quidditch fan? And even more, she wanted to play Keeper?

Remus was looking at James, a half smile on his face. "I don't think it's Lily," he repeated, folding his arms. "I've known her for five years and she's never shown an interest in Quidditch."

"Yeah, well, she did say it was a secret," Sirius pointed out.

Remus still looked unconvinced. "Padfoot, I think you're definitely jumping to conclusions here."

James nibbled on his lower lip. This letter definitely could have been from Lily…but then again, like Remus, he wasn't sure. And since when had Lily ever liked Quidditch? Sure, she showed up to all the Gryffindor games (he should know, he'd looked for her ever since second year), but that was with her friends, and the most interest she'd ever displayed was some house spirit.

He sighed. Professor Pellion probably had no idea of the chaos she'd caused.

"Lily, you're doing homework already?" Alice demanded. She, Lily, Riley, and Emma were all sitting together in the common room. Riley and Emma were playing Wizard's Chess (and Emma was losing badly), and Alice was reading a book. But Lily…Lily was actually doing homework!

"Huh?" Lily looked up. "Oh…yeah, I guess I am."

Emma watched glumly as her knight was stabbed to pieces by a bishop. "Lily, it's four o' clock in the afternoon," she pointed out. "Not homework time."

"I just wanted to write back to my pen pal," Lily said defensively. This made all three of her friends look up in interest.

"Really?" Alice said slyly, tapping her fingers on the cover of her book. "Who is this mysterious stranger?"

"Handsome stranger," Lily corrected automatically, and then blushed beet red as she realized what she'd just said.

Riley's mouth dropped open. "D-did you, Lily Evans, just…"

Abandoning the game of chess completely, Emma faced Lily. "Who is it?" she demanded.

"It's not like it seems," Lily said, her cheeks red with mortification. "It's just that his pen name is Handsome Stranger, so that's why I corrected you guys. That's all, really."

"Sure," Riley and Emma exchanged knowing looks.

Lily gave them both exasperated looks. _Friends, _she thought, shaking her head, _they always imagined more than was really there._

Still, she couldn't quite manage to convince herself that she had purely platonic feelings for this guy…

Shaking the thought off roughly, Lily picked up her quill again and finished her letter:

_Dear Handsome Stranger,_

_Don't worry, I would've figured out that you were a guy even without you giving it away. And relax, we won't have any spats over the whole Quidditch thing—I'm a Gryffindor girl, through and through._

_You and your friends are "mischievous", huh? As long as you guys aren't like the Marauders then you're fine in my book. Honestly, though, the Marauders just bug me to death. Ugh. Do not get me started on my rant._

_So, I know your height and I know your interests, but who are you really? Are you Muggleborn or pureblood? What's your favorite food? Personally, I am addicted to Chocolate Frogs. Best wizarding invention EVER!_

_Yours,_

_EmeraldFyre_

Lily sealed the letter carefully and dropped it into her bookbag. She couldn't wait to hear back from her friend. Who knows? she thought with a thrill of excitement. Maybe her Prince Charming had come at last!


	5. Chapter 5

Lily was flying on the back of a beautiful winged hippogriff. She grinned, enjoying the brush of the wind against her face, when suddenly, the hipogriff's wings disappeared! Her eyes widened as she and the now-wingless hippogriff began plummeting towards the ground.

"Wake up!" Riley was shouting, jumping around on the ground.

Lily screamed back, "I'm falling from a hippogriff! What are you talking about?"

"Wake up, Lily, wake up!" Riley mercilessly shook her friend awake.

"Wh-what?" Lily opened her eyes groggily and took a look at the clock on her nightstand. It read, 7:30.

"Merlin, Riley," Lily muttered, turning back into her pillow. "It's a Saturday! Why are you awake this early?"

Riley put her hands on her hips and gave Lily a patient look. "Come on, Lily, surely you can't have forgotten?"

Lily pulled the blankets up to her nose. "Forgotten what?" she said, her voice muffled through the blankets.

Riley sighed. "The Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch game today! Remember?"

"Oh," Lily rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I'm sure Gryffindor will win. No worries." She turned back into her pillow.

"Rise and shine, beauties!" chorused two male voices.

Lily gave a high pitched scream and dove under the blankets. Riley glared at Remus, James, and Sirius, who were all standing next to her bed.

"Now, Miss Frost," Sirius said, addressing Riley with a grin. "You are coming to our game today, right?"

Riley scowled at him. "Now that you're here, maybe not."

"Oh, Riley, Riley," Sirius said dramatically, swinging an arm around Riley's shoulders (which she promptly slapped away), "where have you been all my life?"

Riley glared at him. "Hiding from you." She turned to Lily, who was wearing a similar expression upon seeing James.

"Potter, your face isn't exactly my idea of starting off a great day," Lily told him dryly.

James blew her a kiss. "I love you too, Lilykins."

Alice and Emma, who had woken up in the midst of this commotion, turned to the boys.

"How'd you guys get up here, anyways?" Emma demanded, folding her arms. "Girls dormitories are magically charmed to ward off guys!"

"Ward off?" Remus said with a touch of amusement in his voice. "You girls make it sound like we're insects?"

Riley and Lily exchanged a look, and said simultaneously, "You are."

"Or worse than," Emma added. "But anyways—how did you guys get up here?"

Sirius grinned at Riley. "Oh, we Marauders have our ways," he said airily, patting James on the back. "Now, Jamesie-poo—"

"Sirius," Remus interrupted him. "I've put up with a lot of things from you. I let you copy my homework. I don't turn you in when you pull crazy pranks. Hell, I don't even give you detention when you snog girls in the broom closet after hours! But if you ever, ever call James that again…well, let's just say the noble Black line won't be continued by you. Got it?"

"Right," Sirius said, giving his friend a thumbs up. "Moony here is very temperamental," he whispered aside to Riley, who giggled in spite of herself.

"Well anyways," James, who only had eyes for Lily, said airily. "You guys better get dressed for the game!" He winked at Lily, who rolled her eyes.

After the boys had left, Alice finally poked her head out of the covers and spoke for the first time. "Well, I guess we'd better get ready, you know," she commented, swinging her legs over the bedpost. "The boys might come up here again."

With a simultaneous shudder, all four girls headed into the bathrooms.

The weather that day was not propitious for Quidditch, James decided as he and the rest of his teammates warmed up in the locker room. He sighed.

"Okay, everybody with glasses, come over here," James ordered. He promptly performed a Clearing Charm on the lenses.

Sirius grinned smugly. "Ah, those unfortunates who play with a handicap," he said, with an exaggerated pout.

James tipped his glasses up his nose slowly and (what he thought) sexily. Sirius gagged and grabbed his broom.

"Let's go, everybody!" James yelled, and the entire team headed out onto the Quidditch field.

As soon as James got out onto the field, he immediately scanned the crowd for Lily. Sure enough, she was there, sitting between Alice and Riley, wrapped in a warm fuzzy scarf.

"Sure wish I had that," James muttered, as he stared up into the drizzling ice-rain and ominous clouds. A loud scream from Sirius promptly jerked James out of his reverie.

"Padfoot!" James ran over to his best friend, looking worried. "What's wrong?"

Sirius, who looked as though he were about to cry, held up a strand of his hair. "_Look _at this!"

James stared at the wet black lock in confusion. "W-what in Merlin's name is going on?"

Sirius sniffled. "My hair is wet! And it looks greasy—like Snivellus' hair. Oh, the shame! The indignity! The insufferable humiliation!" he wailed.

James rolled his eyes. "Please. Next thing I know you're going to tell me you have chipped nails and it's the end of the world."

Sirius inspected each of his nails carefully. "Nope. Not yet, thank Merlin."

James clapped his friend on the back. "Good to know, mate. Good to know."

The game started out furiously, with Gryffindor scoring thirty points right away, twenty thanks to James' brilliant Chaser skills. Slytherin quickly caught up, though, and soon, the difference between the two teams was only ten points.

James circled the field, squinting through the rain for any sign of the small, elusive golden Snitch. He paused for a moment to see Lily, wildly cheering Sirius as he beat the Bludger towards a Slytherin chaser.

_Maybe she is a Quidditch fan after all, _he thought with a sinking heart. And that would mean…that she was Sirius' pen pal! He gritted his teeth, and then—suddenly, he spotted it!

James' vision centered in on the small, golden Snitch. He was aware of nothing else as he plummeted at a crazy speed towards the ground, gaining in his pursuit of the ball. His fingers closed around it, and a split second later, he realized: _Oh, Merlin. I really screwed up, cause now I'm about to hit the ground!_

Then everything went black.

A/N: Wo0t! I've got the next chappie completely written up but I'm not sure if I'll post it today…depends on how many reviews I get! (wink wink)

ily,

Jo


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, I had so many awesome reviewers that I decided to put up Ch. 6!! So thanks sooo much to all you awesome people who read and reviewed!!! YOU GUYS ROCK:D

Lily, sitting in the stands, saw James crash with a sickening thud onto the ground, and the next second she heard someone scream in the crowd, a loud, high-pitched scream that seemed to go on forever. Then she realized it was her—she was the one screaming.

Riley was jumping up and trying frantically to see around the pitch, but the blinding rain made it almost impossible to see anything beyond three feet. Lily grabbed Riley's hand and held it tight.

Alice and Emma came up around Lily and gave her a warm hug. They knew, even if Lily didn't, how much the redhead actually cared about her arch-nemesis.

"Miss Evans, I am sorry, but I simply cannot allow you in," Madame Pomfrey said firmly, keeping the four girls out. She was a young, brown-haired witch who was just starting her Healer career at Hogwarts, but she was amazingly strict for someone so young.

Riley shook her head emphatically. "Madame Pomfrey, you don't understand," she said desperately. "We're James' friends. We want to see how he is, not moon over the school's most popular guy."

Madame Pomfrey looked at the four wet, shivering girls and sighed. "Very well. But," she added, "first, all of you are going to go up to your dormitories and change. Also, I can only allow two of you in at a time."

Lily nodded her agreement and rushed up to the girls' dormitories to change. Fifteen minutes later, she and Riley headed down to the Hospital Wing, having agreed with Alice and Emma that they were to be the first ones down.

Riley knew better than to talk about James to Lily, so the two friends maintained a quiet silence as they walked down. Madame Pomfrey let them in with a disapproving frown, but allowed them to go over to James.

Sirius and Remus looked up as the two girls arrived.

"How is he?" Riley asked in a quiet voice, not even beginning to banter with Sirius as she usually did.

"Pretty bad," Sirius said, and Riley was surprised by the hollowness in his voice. Impulsively, she walked over, took his large, callused hand, and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Remus looked at Lily helplessly. "I'm glad you're here, Lily," he said, and when he spoke, his voice was composed, if trembling a little. "James would've liked it."

Lily nodded in silent acknowledgement and took a seat. "What injuries?" she asked quietly, looking at the limp and bandaged form on the hospital bed.

Remus winced. "Well, he crashed headfirst into the Quidditch field," he said, and swallowed.

Lily's green eyes were void of expression. "Well?" she said, and her voice came out more harshly than she had intended.

"A cracked and fractured skull, broken ribs, broken collarbone, sprained arm, and neck injuries," Remus answered.

Lily nodded.

The afternoon waned on, and then turned into night. As the curfew began approaching, Madame Pomfrey came in to shoo everybody out. Remus, Sirius, and Riley all stood up to go, but Lily refused to get up.

"Miss Evans," Madame Pomfrey said sternly, "Curfew means curfew, my dear. Go up into your dormitory. You can come see Mr. Potter first thing in the morning if you wish."

Lily stared up at the Healer. "I'm not going, Madame Pomfrey," she said quietly but firmly, and something in her green eyes made the Healer step back a bit.

"Watch over him, Lily," Sirius whispered, before giving her a light kiss on the cheek and leaving with Remus and Riley.

"I will," Lily promised, and she was left alone with James.

Sometime during the night she fell asleep, and when she next woke up, the sun was just beginning to rise. Lily rubbed her eyes as the first bright red rays shone into her face.

"Good morning, sunshine," James said, and even with all his head injuries, Lily could see him grin.

"You idiot," she scolded, sitting up straight. "You finally went and deflated your head a bit."

"Yup, I guess I did," James replied. "So will you go out with me now, Evans?"

Lily laughed and slapped his hand (the uninjured one). "You wish, Potter."

James flinched inwardly. He'd expected maybe a slightly different reply, given the circumstances. He was still finding it hard to believe that it had been Lily who'd sat up with him all night, while the rest of his friends left.

"Do you think I'm really an arrogant berk?" James asked quietly.

Lily, startled, looked into his hazel eyes. "Well, um…" she said, losing her train of thought. She wrenched her eyes from James' face and felt like she could breathe again. "No, not really," she answered after a minute of reflection.

James smiled. "Then why won't you go out with me?"

Lily hesitated, and James' smile faded. "There's someone else, isn't there?"

Slowly but surely, Lily nodded. "I-I think so."

James sighed and let go of Lily's hand. "Will you at least tell me who it is?"

"Well, that's just it," Lily confessed. "I don't know. I mean, I know I know him, but I don't know who he is. Did that make sense?"

James forced a laugh. "I can always follow your logic perfectly, Lily."

Lily laughed a little too, although it did come out sounding kind of strangled. "He's my pen pal from that Muggle Studies project Pellion is making us do," she confessed, blushing. "I guess by the end of the term I'll figure out who it is."

James smiled sadly. "Oh don't worry, Lily. He's a great guy, trust me."

Lily's eyes widened. "You know who he is?" She leaned forward, and the excitement in her eyes was hard to conceal. "Tell me!"

James shook his head. "I can't do that," he said. "But trust me, you'll find out. And I hope you guys are really happy together."

Lily nodded slowly, not understanding why her heart was feeling like it was ready to break. "I hope so too."

A half hour later, Lily left just as her other friends were starting to arrive to visit James. Emma and Alice headed up to her, full of questions, but the words died on their lips as they saw Lily's expression.

Lily nodded at them. "I'll be okay," she assured her friends. "I just need to be alone for a while." All three of them nodded and headed away.

Lily walked back up to the common room slowly, grabbed a quill, and began to write:

_Dear Handsome Stranger,_

_Have you ever felt really confused? Like, you feel something for one person but also for another…well anyways, forget that. I'm just feeling pretty solitary right now._

_So anyways, you, like the rest of the school, have probably heard about James Potter's infamous crash into the Quidditch pitch, huh? The dolt. This is why Quidditch is such a senseless game (although I do like the house points it racks in…). If I wanted to kill myself, there are far less painful ways of doing it. _

_So here are some more of my infamous questions: what's your favorite animal? I like woodland animals, like bunnies and rabbits and deer. Yes, deer are nice…especially the male ones because their antlers are so beautiful. What are they called again? Oh right! Stags. They're so majestic! What about you? Do you like stags?_

_Yours,_

_EmeraldFyre_

Lily felt a million times more relaxed and cheerful after she was done writing her letter. And she wasn't sure if this was good or bad—but her feelings for her "Handsome Stranger" were getting more intense than ever.

A/N: Ooooh! I didn't want to have them realize each other just yet…so I get to keep writing and pouring out insane ideas! YAY! Lol…so anyways, reviews would be awesome!! And thanks to everyone who's already reviewed, you guys are the best!

ily,

Jo


	7. Chapter 7

Riley and Sirius were sitting together in the common room. Neither of them felt much like talking in light of James' injury, but the electricity between them crackled as strongly as ever.

"So," Riley said, breaking the silence. "How're you doing with Pellion's project?" The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Imagine talking about schoolwork!

But to her surprise, Sirius shrugged and answered. "It's okay. I think I got Evans, though."

Riley's mouth dropped open. Lily had confided in her the night before her feelings for her pen pal and now she refused to believe it. "Are you sure?" she asked in stunned disbelief.

Sirius lounged back carelessly in his chair. "I think so."

Riley opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. What could she say? All she knew was that suddenly the world seemed upside down.

"Hey, listen," Sirius said, looking at Riley seriously. "You know how we went out in fourth year?"

Riley snorted. "Worst decision of my life." She winced, trying not to open the flood of painful memories. She and Sirius had dated for two weeks, and then she'd found him snogging Celine Markel in the Gryffindor common room. Needless to say, that relationship ended pretty quickly.

"I was young and stupid then," Sirius confessed, looking into her eyes. "Can we maybe…I dunno, try again?"

Riley bit her lower lip. Every ounce of her being was telling her to say yes. She knew he'd changed, and he'd changed for the better. But she couldn't betray Lily like this.

"I can't," she told him shortly, and Sirius' face fell.

"Why not?" he asked, taking her hand. Riley stiffened as her pulse picked up, and she struggled to regain control of the situation.

"Personal reasons," Riley told him, trying to make her voice sound as cold as possible. Sirius obviously heard the underlying emotion in her voice, though, because he leaned closer until their faces were only a few inches apart.

Riley felt her palms begin to sweat as Sirius closed the gap between them and lowered his lips onto hers. She felt the familiar fireworks begin to explode in her head, and, as his tongue traced her lips, she opened herself to him and almost gasped with the sheer ecstasy of it.

Lily chose that moment to walk in the Common Room, and the sight before her made her gasp audibly. Riley pulled back from Sirius immediately, her eyes wide.

"Lily…" Riley began, but to her surprise, Lily began laughing.

Sirius surveyed her warily. "What's so funny?" he demanded, folding his arms.

"You two are," Lily grinned, sitting down next to the couple. "It's so funny that you guys have argued for five years and now suddenly I walk in on you two making out!"

"It wasn't making out!" Riley protested, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her robe. She humphed. "It was one tiny, little, short kiss. And we're still as much rivals as ever," she added, glaring at Sirius.

Sirius grinned, obviously not taking her seriously (A/N: Ahhh! I hate these puns when they're not good!! . Sorry. Back to the story). "I would go to the end of the world for you, Riley my love," he told her gravely.

"But would you stay there?" demanded Riley in return. She turned to Lily, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Lily…I need to talk to you."

"Okay," Lily followed her friend up to the girls' dormitories, unaware that anything out of the ordinary was going on.

"Listen," Riley faced Lily earnestly and looked her in the eye. "I can't date Sirius."

Lily stared at her. "Why not? Is it because you can't date someone who's finally your equal?" she added, teasing.

"Lily, I'm serious," Riley answered. She took a deep breath. "You know the guy you told me you're falling in love with? That 'Handsome Stranger' pen pal bloke?"

"Yes…" Lily eyed her warily, beginning to catch onto what her friend was saying.

"Well, that's Sirius," Riley informed her, quivering a little.

"No way," Lily said in disbelief. She sat down on the bed, refusing to believe it. "No, Riley. It's not."

She said this with such conviction in her voice that Riley was surprised. "I-it's not?" she asked uncertainly.

Lily laughed joyously. "Oh come on, Riley. I've known Sirius for six years and this is not him. I promise you." Her eyes became misty as Lily retreated into her own kind of mental world. "It's someone who's tall, dark, and handsome…" She handed Riley one of her letters to read. "Here."

"Someone like James Potter?" Riley asked slyly. She folded up the letter in her hands. Now that she, like Lily, had read it, she couldn't believe she'd ever doubted it. This was not Sirius. End of story.

"J-James Potter?" Lily gasped and sat up, as though her fantasy world had suddenly been doused in cold water. "That arrogant, self obsessed toerag?"

Riley grinned. She, for one, was sure of it. Now all Lily had to do was associate her dream "Handsome Stranger" with the conceited James Potter. Chuckling to herself, Riley descended back down into the common room. _This should be an interesting ride_, she thought.

But the common room wasn't deserted like she thought. Sirius was sitting on one of the couches, facing away from her. His face was wearing the saddest expression she'd ever seen.

"You poor doggy," Riley teased, walking over to him. She winked.

Sirius frowned at her. "Hey. No Animagi jokes."

"Well fine, but I have something to tell you, you know," Riley told him. "As stupid and delusional as you are, Sirius Black, I think I will go out with you."

Sirius' face lighted up. "Really?"

"Yeah," Riley agreed, and before he could say anything else, she kissed him passionately.

All coherent thought left Sirius' head like books going out a window. He was grinning as he kissed her back, but then pulled back for a second. "Wait, what about those personal reasons?" he demanded.

Riley gave a little moan of disappointment at having his lips leave hers, but she sighed and answered anyway. "They changed in your favor."

A/N: Whew!! There's one ship pretty much settled. :D Now if only the rest would just fall into place…okay, everybody, review pretty please!! If I get awesome reviews I'll update later today, promise!

ily,

Jo


	8. Chapter 8

Lily was in the hospital wing every day for a week during her spare time to visit James. At first Madame Pomfrey complained, but gradually she grew to accept it and even welcomed Lily's help in tending James.

"That boy simply will not eat his gummy vitamins," an exasperated Madame Pomfrey said during the second day of Lily's visits. "Something about them not being manly enough."

Lily took the gummy bears with a laugh and charmed them into little Snitches. "There you go," she said, handing them back to the Healer. "I guarantee you he'll eat them now."

And, to do her credit, he did.

During the latter part of the week, when James was almost fully recovered, he took advantage of Lily's frequent visits to incessantly and relentlessly ask her out. Lily ignored these as she had done for the past four years, with an eye roll and an (occasional) slap in the face.

But these daily "hospital visits" had their upsides, too. Lily and James realized they had a lot more in common than they had originally thought, and slowly they grew to know each other better.

"Why do always hex people for the fun of it?" Lily demanded one day.

James shrugged and popped a jelly bean in his mouth. "Well, I don't do it anymore," he said defensively. "That was just back in third and fourth year when Sirius and I were bored to hell."

Lily frowned. "What do you mean, you don't do it anymore?"

James stopped ogling his huge stack of candy for a second to pause and look Lily in the eye. "I don't do it anymore," he told her softly, "because you don't like it."

Lily blushed and turned away, not sure exactly how to respond.

Too soon, James was out of the Hospital Wing and back on his feet (er, broom). He, Sirius, and the rest of the team could be seen almost nightly on the Quidditch field, practicing. In the daytime, James seemed to be always busy.

The result was that Lily saw less and less of him, but oddly enough, that was okay by her. The feelings she'd developed for James had gotten way too intense for her liking (even if it _was _only a mild friendship), so Lily retreated into her own world of friends and her "Handsome Stranger."

The letters between them were as steady as ever, and Lily enjoyed reading them. In fact, they were probably the highlight of her day:

_Dear EmeraldFyre,_

_I've been so busy these days, but I always find time in the evening to write to you. I know we're not supposed to know who we're writing to, but I'm just so curious! Who are you? What year are you in? What do you look like?_

_Well anyways…I've been busy with Quidditch a lot these days. You do know that Gryffindor is gonna win the Quidditch Cup no matter what, don't you? If me and the others have anything to say about it, that is. _

_Oh, and to answer your question from last time—how weird is this? My favorite animal is a stag too. And I completely agree with you; they're majestic, beautiful, and MANLY. Haha, just kidding. (Sort of…) But EmeraldFyre, I have a surprise for you. Next Tuesday, go to the lakeside at 9:00 at night. Yes, I know it's after curfew, but it'll be worth it. I promise._

_Yours,_

_Handsome Stranger_

Lily gaped at the letter. He was asking her to sneak out? And after curfew? She groaned and fell down on her bed. She, Lily Evans, was a prefect! But she knew what she was going to do anyways, because she was just too curious. Sighing, Lily began to think of a way to sneak out after dark.

The night that her "Handsome Stranger" had planned was a cool one, with a slight breeze. Lily waited until everyone in the dormitory was asleep, then, slipping on a light cardigan so she wouldn't freeze, she quietly crept down to the common room.

Lily held her breath every step of the way out of the castle. When she eased open the double doors that led outside, Lily almost froze up with terror. The noise that the creaking doors emitted seemed so loud, she was surprised it hadn't woken up the entire castle!

Once she was out, though, it was easy going. Lily walked beside the lake, admiring the reflection of the half moon on its surface.

Then, suddenly, another reflection caught her eye. A stag, tall and majestic as she had always imagined stags to be, was standing behind her. Lily could almost feel its warm breath on her neck.

She turned around, her eyes wide. This was undoubtedly the surprise her pen pal had planned for her—so where was the human? She looked around to see if anyone was there, but it was only her and the stag.

The animal knelt down, and Lily understood that it was offering to let her ride him. With an energetic nod and a grin, Lily petted the stag's forehead and then gently climbed on its back.

That night's ride was one Lily never forgot. They galloped all over the school grounds, sometimes at such a fast pace that the wind whipped her hair right out of her face. It seemed an eternity before they headed back to the lake again, and Lily carefully slid off back onto the ground.

"Thank you so much," Lily whispered, hugging the animal. It tossed its head gently in reply, and Lily laughed. "Tell thank you to the person who planned this for me, okay?" She hugged the stag one more time and then ran back to the castle.

James waited until she was completely out of sight, and then transformed back into his human form. He was almost too stunned to talk. Lily Evans was his "EmeraldFyre"? He groaned. She had hated him for five (if not more) years. How could he tell her?

Meanwhile, Lily was safe and warm back in her own bed in Gryffindor Towers, but she couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, thinking of the stag and whoever had planned it. One thing was sure—she was already in love.

A/N: Yes, I do have Ch. 9 written up but I'll probably post it tomorrow. This chapter is for Noc007, blueholly, stephart1994, and honorchoirsinger who reviewed Ch. 7!! YAY!! I love you guys and everyone else who has reviewed and WILL review this chapter! (hint hint) Till then!

ily,

Jo


	9. Chapter 9

"As you know, we only have two more weeks until the end of term," Professor Pellion said, beaming at the class. "Therefore, we will only be exchanging a few more letters until the identities of your pen pals will be revealed."

Most of the class exchanged eye rolls and sighs, having figured out who their "pen pal" was the first week of the project.

Professor Pellion didn't seem to notice, though, and continued, "So, as a very exciting final week to complete the project, each of you will now be exchanging at least three little gifts with your pen pal!"

Riley and Lily looked at each other. Of the entire class, they were some of the only people who hadn't figured out who their pen pals were. Not that they hadn't tried; Riley had fixed everyone in the class with her "Infamous Probing Glare" in an attempt to find out who her pen pal was. The results were very unsatisfactory, however, as she had only succeeded in making half the class have a nervous breakdown.

"Blimey, Remus," James sighed as they walked out of class together, "What in Merlin am I supposed to get Evans?"

Remus shrugged. "Why are you asking me?"

"Well, you were a prefect with her," James said desperately. "You should know what she likes!"

Remus sighed. "Okay, fine. She likes books, Chocolate Frogs, and cute bras."

James almost choked. "Cute bras?!?!"

"Well, yeah," Remus looked at James as though this were obvious. "A lot of girls do, you know."

James stared at his friend. "This is the sort of thing I expect to hear from Sirius, not you, Moony."

Remus gave a sheepish laugh. "Well…I guess there's more to me than meets the eye."

"Apparently," James muttered, eyeing his friend with distaste. "You're not actually _suggesting _that I buy her a bra?"

Remus, who was digging through his backpack, refused to make eye contact with James. "It's up to you, Prongs," he replied. James scowled.

Meanwhile, Lily and Riley were having the same dilemma.

"I think I've gotten to know him pretty well through the letters," Lily mused, "but I have no idea what to get him!"

Riley groaned. "Me neither," she confessed. "For some reason I keep thinking of what I'd get Sirius." She sighed.

"Lily! Lily!" Alice and Emma ran up the stairs, shouting like their lives depended on it.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Hello, girls. What's all the fuss about?"

"We. Found. Out. Who. Your. Handsome. Stranger. IS!" Emma squealed. She grinned.

Lily heart began to race faster in spite of herself. "Who?" she asked, looking at the two.

"He's incredibly hot," said Alice.

"Very nice, too," added Emma.

"And he plays on the Quidditch team," supplied Alice again.

"Who?" Lily demanded, almost bursting with curiosity.

"Amos Diggory!" the two girls exclaimed in unison. They beamed at their friend.

Lily stared at them, speechless.

"You know he's liked you since third year," Emma said smugly. "It all makes sense! We did some spying—er, research—on him, and _everything _about him fits what you've told us."

Lily stared down at her hands. "A-Are you sure?" she asked feebly.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Alice assured her. "And you know, he's so cute too! So…are you going to ask him out?"

Lily stood up slowly and walked over to the window. "No, I don't think so," she confessed, staring down at the Marauders taking a swim in the lake. She had a sudden urge to join them.

"I'll be back," she called to her friends as she grabbed a swimming suit and ran downstairs.

Alice and Emma watched her go. "I thought she'd be happy," Emma said, crestfallen.

Riley laughed at them. "Oh come on, you guys. Lily loves James. She just doesn't know it yet."

Alice stared at her. "James? As in, James Potter? As in, the guy she's hated for five if not more years?"

"Yup," Riley nodded.

"Well, if that's true," Emma said briskly, her brown eyes sparkling. "Then we need to come up with a plan."

Alice's face lighted up. "Perfect! Operation: Lilyflower."

"Wait, what about Amos Diggory?" Riley interrupted, raising her eyebrows. "Didn't you guys say that that was her pen pal? And Lily seems to like him a lot too…"

Emma waved it off. "We'll worry about that later," she said decisively. "I'm sure, when this plans succeeds, everything will fall into place."

A/N: I got so many great reviews that I decided to end the suspense and post up Ch. 9. Wo0t! I know this is a short chapter, but…I did post twice in one day! So yea…REVIEW!!! Pretty please with (insert favorite food) on top??

ily,

Jo


	10. Chapter 10

"Whoa, mate," Sirius nudged James, who turned from trying to submerge Peter in the lake. "Is it me, or is that Evans coming towards us in a bathing suit?"

"Blimey!" James stared as the redhead approached.

"Hello, boys," Lily carelessly threw her towel under a tree. "Remus," she nodded and smiled in his direction. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all, Lilyflower," Sirius said, grinning. "In fact, we might help you there ourselves." He winked at James, who immediately caught on. The two boys climbed out of the lake, dripping wet and headed towards Lily.

Lily's eyes widened. "Don't you dare touch me, Potter," she warned, backing away.

Sirius grabbed one of her arms. Between him and James, they managed to pick up the screaming, protesting Lily Evans.

"Ready, mate?" Sirius asked, grinning. Remus and Peter quickly swam to the safety of the shore.

"Put. Me. Down!" Lily screamed, writhing around. But thanks to years of Quidditch practice, both Marauders had grips like iron.

"One," Sirius intoned, as though this were a formal ceremony. "Two. Two and a half. Two and three quarters. Two and—"

"Will you just get on with it?" demanded James.

Sirius shot him a look. "Two and three eighth,--"

"Wait," Remus interrupted, frowning. "That's less than two and three quarters."

Sirius paused a minute to frown and reflect. "Is it really now? Well then—"

"Three!" James shouted, and Sirius' quick reflexes helped James launch Lily into the lake. She came up, sputtering and screaming hexes at the Marauders. Unfortunately for Lily, since her wand was under the tree, nothing happened.

Sirius and James jumped into the lake after her, splashing Remus and Peter. Peter shivered, and whined, "Hey!" but of course, neither of them paid him any attention.

"So Lily, why this sudden urge for a swim?" James teased her as she wrung the water out of her hair.

Lily glared at him. "The urge is almost gone, thanks to you two."

"You know you loved it," Sirius called, from where he was trying to feed Peter to the Giant Squid.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Sure. Well to answer your question, Potter, I was bored and decided to come out here to think."

"Lily, I'm afraid that's going to be slightly problematic," James said with a straight face. "You see, among us four Marauders, thinking is highly discouraged."

"That's probably for the best, since two of you would end up in the Hospital Wing with exploded heads," Lily retorted, giving up on her hair and just letting it sit in the water.

"Ouch, Evans," Sirius said, swimming over. "I heard that, you know."

Lily laughed in spite of herself. "I know."

After a half hour of frolicking with the Marauders, Lily felt much better. Yes, it had been a shock to learn that her "Handsome Stranger" was the short, pompous Amos Diggory, but she'd recovered. And besides, she was starting to doubt Emma and Alice's reasoning. There were plenty of other guys who fit the categories.

_Like James Potter_, a little voice said inside her head.

_Oh, shut up! _Lily told herself. She did not need crazy images of her and James coming up in her head.

_You know it's true_, the little voice mocked, before finally retreating to the back of her head.

_Oh great, _Lily thought. _Now I'm having arguments with myself._

"Hey, no big deal, I do it too," James said, and Lily realized she'd said the last part out loud.

"So what were you arguing with yourself about?" James asked casually.

Lily blushed. "Who my pen pal was."

James' heart began thumping so loud he was sure Lily could hear it. "Oh really?" he forced himself to say. The words came out a bit strangled, though, and Lily looked at him oddly.

_Did he suspect? _she wondered to herself.

"Well, yeah," Lily said, trying to laugh. "Haven't you ever wondered?"

"Yes," James said truthfully. "But I think I know who it is."

Lily looked up at him curiously. "Who?"

"She's a girl in our year," James answered, beginning cautiously, "and she's extremely intelligent. She's pretty, too, and serious, but fun underneath that. And she loves books and Chocolate Frogs and cute bras," he finished quickly, and then cursed himself for being such an idiot.

Lily's eyes had been rapidly widening with every word. At the end, she gave a little giggle. "Sounds interesting. What's her name?"

James took a deep breath. "Lily Evans."

Lily gasped. "H-How do you know? I mean…I don't believe you," she said authoritatively. "If you really are my pen pal, then what's your code name?"

"Handsome Stranger?" James asked, a smile appearing at the edge of his lips.

Lily made a strangled sort of noise, but the expression on her face was impossible to make out. Climbing out of the lake, she quickly grabbed her towel and ran back into the castle.

"What did you do to here, mate?" Sirius asked, coming over.

James shook his head wearily. "I told Evans I was her pen pal."

"Well, that was pretty thick," Remus commented, wading over to his friends. James scowled at him.

"And she just ran off like that?" Sirius asked in surprise, watching Lily disappear into the castle.

"Yeah," James said gloomily. "Just like that."

A/N: I know this chappie is a little short, so sorry to all my readers/reviewers! It's just that right now I'm in a temporary sad phase about having to go back to school (anyone with me here?) But oh well...one more WEEK OF SUMMER LEFT!! YAYA!!

ily,

Jo


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Okay, I have to tell all you reviewers that YOU ROCK!!! Because I made over 40 reviews, I decided to relent (even tho I wasn't going to…) and post up Ch. 11. So here it is. Remember…more reviews faster updates!! Thanx!!

Lily Evans sat up in the common room, wringing out her wet hair in the girls' dormitory bathroom. She was still too much in shock to fully absorb what James had said—_he _was her Handsome Stranger?

Lily shook her head. It seemed as though James Potter was one person on paper, and a whole different person in real life. How could she ever connect the two?

"Hey," Emma came upstairs and poked her head in the bathroom. "Lils. I heard what happened; are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lily mumbled. "I'm fine."

Emma raised her eyebrows. If one thing could be said about Emmeline Vance, it was that she was persistent. "You don't sound fine."

Lily gave a half sigh, half laugh. "All right. You know me too well. I just can't connect my pen pal with…_James Potter. _Does that make sense?"

"Perfectly," Emma smiled and, dragging Lily out of the bathroom, took a seat on one of the beds. "But the thing is, Lily, you never gave James a chance."

Lily looked at her friend in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, ever since he dumped that pot of Mandrakes on your head in second year, you've been determined to hate him," Emma explained. She smiled wryly. "Not that he doesn't deserve your wrath sometimes—but lately he's changed."

Lily knew Emma was right, but she was too set in her ways of five years of hatred to admit it. "I don't know," she sighed, running a brush through her long, red hair. "I feel like my fantasy has been ripped from me."

Emma patted her friend on the arm and stood up to go. She could see that Lily needed some alone thinking time. "One last thing," she added, as she grabbed her bag, "Don't think about who James was, think about who he is."

Those words rang in Lily's ears as Emma left. She groaned and buried her head in the covers. Life was too complicated sometimes.

Meanwhile, in the boys' dormitories, Sirius was trying to give James his infamous Lesson #51: How-To-Catch-Lily-Evans-Girl-Of-Your-Dreams-And-Make-Her-Swoon-Before-You.

"Um, Padfoot?" Remus injected, frowning. "I find it very hard to believe that Lily would swoon for anybody."

"For our Jamesie—"

"_Sirius._"

"Oh. Okay. Point taken. Anyways," Sirius went on, "James, take a seat and pay close attention."

Somewhat amused, James sat down on the bed and watched Sirius ramble on.

"First of all, you need to be charming," Sirius instructed. He waved his wand in the air and immediately a stick figure of James dressed in fancy dress robes and carrying a load of gifts appeared.

Remus snorted. "James, you look like you're wearing a dress."

James glared at him. "Hey, this is Sirius' presentation, not mine. He's the one who came up with all the little air things."

Sirius cleared his throat. "Ahem? If you could please redirect your attention to the one and only handsomest guy in the school?" James and Remus rolled their eyes.

"Anyways," continued Sirius, as though there had been no interruption, "then you need to be attentive." He waved his wand again, and another picture of James earnestly listening while Lily rambled on appeared.

"Like what we're being right now?" muttered Remus, giving a sigh. This was definitely killing off what few brain cells he had left after being a Marauder.

"Exactly," beamed Sirius, unaware of the sarcasm. "Then, you need to be trustworthy." A rather explicit picture of James with another girl appeared, and both James and Remus immediately averted their eyes.

"Whoa," James said, turning a sickly green color, "I did not need to see that."

"Exactly how does that demonstrate your concept of trustworthy?" demanded Remus, trying to ignore the picture.

Sirius grinned, and with his wand, drew a huge X over the picture.

James and Remus groaned simultaneously.

"And lastly," Sirius concluded, "you must be suave."

"Sirius!" Remus looked like he was having a heart attack. "I didn't even know suave was in your vocabulary!"

Sirius frowned. "Well, I needed something to complete the acronym."

"Acronym?" James thought back. "Charming. Attentive. Trustworthy. Suave…_cats_?!?"

"Yup," said Sirius, grinning proudly. "So if you remember that, Jamesie—er, Prongs, you and Lily will be making out in no time."

"More like poking out James' eyeballs," Remus muttered.

This time it was Sirius and James who turned green.

All through the week, Lily found little gifts turning up in places she couldn't miss them. Chocolate frogs, the new edition of _Hogwarts, A History _and even a lacy pink bra with butterflies kept appearing wherever she went. (The bra incident was rather humiliating, since it turned up on her desk during Professor McGonagall's lecture on Animagi). Still, Lily couldn't help but be touched by the gifts. James had far exceeded Pellion's requirement of three gifts, and they kept pouring in.

For her part, Lily bought candy, a new quill, and lastly (she'd bought this impulsively while at Hogsmeade one day) a Broomstick Servicing Kit. It'd been worth it to see James' gleeful expression at breakfast that day. And—was she imagining this?—he even flashed a shy grin her way.

"Now, class," Professor Pellion instructed on the last day of the term, "we will now be revealing our pen pals."

Most of the class yawned or looked bored. Pretty much everyone already knew. Riley, though, looked around with excitement.

"Andrea Fleming and Rachelle Waters," Professor Pellion read. "Riley Frost and—" here Riley tensed "—Sirius Black."

Riley's mouth dropped open. Lily laughed aloud as her friend unabashedly ran over to Sirius and gave him a huge hug.

After all of the reading was done, Professor Pellion beamed at the students. "I hope all of you have learned something this term," she said. "Class dismissed!"

As the bell rang and everybody filed out of the classroom, James hung back, looking glum. Remus noticed and went back to talk to his friend.

"Hey, Prongs," Remus said, "what's wrong?"

James sighed. "The project is finished, but…Lily still feels the same way towards me as she always did."

Remus shook his head. "No, she doesn't."

James looked surprised. "She doesn't? How do you know? Are you sure? What does she feel, then? How come—"

"She doesn't think you're a total git anymore," Remus interrupted to point out reasonably. "Now all you have to work on is courting her, so to speak." He grinned. "Remember cats!"

A/N: Voila!! Here it is!! And the next chapter is really pretty unique…it's the one where everything starts to kinda fit. Watch for updates!

ily,

Jo


	12. Chapter 12

"Miss Evans?" the crisp, no-nonsense voice of Professor McGonagall reached Lily's ears as she was making her patrols later that night.

"Yes, Professor?" Lily turned around.

"Miss Evans, how would you feel about being the organizer of a Winter Ball here at Hogwarts?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Me?" Lily asked. She blinked. "I suppose I'd be willing to do it, Professor."

"Very good," McGonagall said. She smiled at Lily. "You should talk it over with the other prefects and see what dates are convenient."

"Yes, Professor," Lily replied. "Good night."

"Good night, Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall turned, and, with a swish of her black robes, vanished down the hallways.

"Hey, Remus?" Lily asked when she saw him patrolling as well.

"Yes, Lily?" Remus asked absently, shining his wand into a broom closet.

"How would you feel about helping me plan a Winter Ball?" Lily said. "Detention," she added to a couple of first years who were in the closet. They scowled at her and trotted away.

Remus looked after them in amazement. "First years?"

"Yup," Lily sighed and laughed a little. "They're getting stupider and stupider. But anyways, would you do it?"

"Sure," Remus replied. "I could probably get the rest of the Marauders in it too. I'm sure they'd want to help."

Lily nodded (which was a huge difference between the reaction she would've had a year ago; a year ago she would've screamed and promptly hexed Remus). "Sure. They can help, but only," she added, "if they're serious about it."

"They will be," Remus assured her.

Later…

"Help Evans plan a Winter Ball?" Sirius raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Prongsie can do it. I don't have the time."

"Sure you do," Remus urged him. "If you'd snog ten less girls each week you'd have loads of free time."

"True," Sirius agreed, "but I'm not willing to do it."

Remus rolled his eyes and turned to James. "How about you, James? Lily needs all the help she can get."

"She doesn't hate me?" James demanded uneasily.

"Nope," Remus told him. "And she'll like you even better if you do a good job on this planning thing!"

James grinned and sat up. "Count me in!"

Lily directed their first "meeting" for planning the winter ball. She greeted Remus, who was right on time, and then both of them waited impatiently for James.

When he finally arrived, he was muttering something over and over again. As he got closer, Lily heard indistinctly, "Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats…"

She gave him an odd look. "Um, James?"

James looked at her in surprise. She had called him James! Not Potter! Immediately his face broke into a grin. "Yes, Lily?"

Lily blushed a little, although she wasn't quite sure why. "Er, nothing. Are you ready to start?" He nodded in reply.

Afterwards, Lily considered that first meeting a productive one. Although James and Remus made an occasional joke, they were always on task. Lily left them after the hour was up, feeling satisfied. She decided to go to the library and get a book.

James and Remus headed back to the Gryffindor common room. Sirius was already there, looking bored out of his mind.

"Padfoot?" James asked in surprise. "Why aren't you out snogging a girl?"

Sirius scowled. "It's boring without you two," he complained, then made a face. "I had to spend two hours listening to Peter go on about his undying love for Celine Markel."

James and Remus both winced. They had no idea why Peter was obsessed with the preppy, popular Ravenclaw, but it was disturbing, to say the least.

"Bad luck, mate," James said, sitting down on the couch. "Oi!" he cried a second later, jumping back up again. "What the bloody hell is that?"

Sirius glanced at the animal. "That? Oh, that's Peter."

"Um, Sirius? Why is he a…" Remus glanced down, "badger?" He cast Sirius a wary look.

"Well, I got sick of him prattling on," Sirius said, as though this were common sense, "so I transfigured him into a badger to shut him up." The animal gave a feeble squeak.

James shrugged. "It _was _kind of your own fault, Pete," he admonished the badger.

"No worries," Sirius said, lazily using his wand to twirl the badger around in midair by its tail, "the charm wears off at midnight."

"So how were things with you and Evans?" asked Sirius.

James grinned.

"I'll take that as a 'very good'," Sirius said. He glanced at Remus, who gave him a thumbs up. "James, you're starting to look like that one fairytale we read about in Muggle Studies—who was it, the Shechire Cat?"

"Cat!" squealed James, who was looking thrilled.

"You had to make up an acronym," muttered Remus. He gave a sigh and shook his head despairingly. "I'm going up to bed, everyone. G'night."

When Lily came back from the library, it was a little past curfew. Guiltily, she gave the Fat Lady the password, and then walked into the common room. Oddly enough, it wasn't deserted. James was sitting on a couch, staring into the fire.

"Hey," Lily greeted him. "What are you doing up so late?"

James smiled back. "Waiting for you, Lilyflower."

Lily rolled her eyes. "How many years is it going to take to get it through your thick head that your compliments are as good as Sirius' jokes?" But this time, instead of the caustic, sarcastic tone she usually used, it was more like light teasing.

"That good, huh?" James said, scooting over to make room for her on the couch. Lily took a seat with a grateful sigh and dropped her stack of books on the floor.

"So, Lilypads," James said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, "tonight, you wanna go to my place or yours?"

Lily gave him a look. "How about both? You go to yours, and I'll go to mine."

"I think you've just destroyed my feeble and sensitive ego," James said in mock hurt, taking this opportunity to move about five inches closer. Lily blushed.

They were so close that their noses were almost touching. James leaned forward ever so slowly…but then Lily jumped up, and, hastily grabbing her stack of books, said, "Um, I really should be going upstairs now. Good night, James!" With that, she fled up to the girl's dormitories.

James wasn't fazed. He sat back on the couch, smiling to himself. Just a little more time…

A/N: YAY!! You guys should all love me to death :D Lol jk…but this WAS a long chappie! So yay!! And yea…I'll admit, I haven't started Ch. 13 at all but I'll prolly post it up sometime today if I get over 50 reviews…hint hint!!

ily,

Jo


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Okay, so I wasn't gonna post this up today, but you guys gave me tons and tons of reviews, so I just had to put it up!!! So thanx to everybody who reviewed and enjoy this chapter!!**

But as the days for the ball drew closer and closer, James grew more desperate. Other than that one night by the common room, Lily hadn't done anything past the normal boundaries of a platonic friendship.

"I don't bloody get it, Remus!" James complained to his friend one day. "Why won't she go out with me?"

"Maybe because you haven't asked?" Remus suggested calmly.

Sirius turned to James. "I think it's time for Lesson #52: How-To-Successfully-Turn-A-Platonic-Relationship-Into-A-Love-Affair."

Remus gave him a look. "How much of your time do you spend making up these 'lessons'?" he demanded.

"Moony, normal people need something to do in Ancient Runes," Sirius told him matter-of-factly. "Anyways, Prongs. You wanna hear this or not?"

James shrugged. "Sure, why not? Are you going to give another cat thing again?"

Sirius looked offended. "Please. Do not interrupt the singular most handsome guy at school in his attempt to help his friends."

Remus snorted, but Sirius ignored him and began, "Now, the first thing is Desire. You have to make Lily like you more than a friend."

James made a face. "Sirius, I think that that goes under the heading of common sense."

"The second thing," continued Sirius, "is obeisance."

Remus gaped. "How are you finding all of these big words?"

"It's easy," said Sirius. "Okay, so, in the library, under the Restricted Section, is a book full of synonyms for words like love, desire, se—"

"O-okay," Remus interrupted him. "Thank you for that bit of information, Padfoot."

"Anytime, Moony," Sirius replied. "Anyways. After that comes glorification. You already glorify Lily, Prongs, but she has to glorify you back."

Remus began banging his head against the wall at this point. James, however, was listening intently.

"And lastly," concluded Sirius triumphantly, "is sentimentality. Sentimentalness is needed in every healthy relationship."

"Sirius, sentimentalness isn't even a word," Remus said, his voice muffled.

"I suppose there's another acronym to this?" James guessed, laughing. "Let's see…Desire. Obeisance. Glorification. Sentimentality…_dogs_?"

"Padfoot, you may be good at making up these lesson things," Remus began.

"But your creative springs are dry, dead, and gone," finished James. He sighed. "Back to real life. Do you think I should ask her to the ball?"

"No other bloke will," Sirius pointed out, "because they know they're going to be dead the morning after the ball."

"That's true," James admitted. His hands-off policy on Lily was common knowledge throughout the school.

"I think Lily does like you," Remus spoke up, smiling at his friend. "She just doesn't know it yet."

"Lily Evans, you like James Potter," Emma told her friend in the dormitory later that day.

"Yeah, you just don't know it yet," added Alice. Riley nodded her agreement.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Thanks, you guys. Apparently you know me better than I do."

"That's what friends are for," beamed Emma, completely ignoring Lily's sarcasm. "Now, then. You need to make him fall for you, hard."

"I thought he already had," argued Alice. "He's been chasing her for the past four years, you know."

Riley inspected each one of her nails thoughtfully. "I wonder if he's given up on her?"

"Can't be," Emma decided authoritatively. "Just when Lily's starting to be nice to him? That doesn't make sense at all."

"Hello? You guys?" Lily laughed and shook her head. "I'd like some input in here too, while you're all deciding my future life."

"Okay, Lily," Alice grinned at her. "Tell us. How do you feel about a certain Mr. James Potter?"

"He's changed for the better this past year," Lily admitted, suddenly feeling shy. "I mean, s-since he's been around Remus, and—er, I guess…"

"Stammering, stuttering, and blushing," Riley instructed, as Alice took detailed notes a small notepad.

"Riley! Stop it!" Lily cried, feeling overcome with embarrassment.

"She does like him, you know," Riley whispered to Emma and Alice. "I have an idea. Meet me down at the common room in fifteen minutes, without Lily, okay?"

Having successfully disposed of Lily in the library, Riley, Emma, and Alice all gathered together in the Gryffindor common room.

"So what's this brilliant idea of yours?" asked Alice skeptically. She remembered all too well the _last _matchmaking expedition Riley had gone on. Alice shuddered. She would never be able to face Amos Diggory ever again.

"I don't really have a full fledged idea yet," Riley acknowledged. "But," she added, with a sly smile, "the Marauders will."

Emma's mouth dropped open. "You're suggesting we work with them…to get Lily and James together?"

Riley nodded. "It's not such a bad plan. Sirius and Remus want Lily and James to get together too."

"I like it," Alice decided. She rubbed her hands together. "I'll contact Remus, Sirius, and Peter for a meeting later tonight."

Riley's eyes sparkled. "Perfect."

**A/N: Here it is!! I worked on this during the morning and now finally I can post up Ch. 13 for you guys!!! I know it's kinda short...but read and review pretty pretty please???**

**ily,**

**Jo**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay in uploads you guys!! I was a bit stressed out these past days cause of schedule problems and sports conflicts…but I'm back!! And today is my last day of summer…sad face ****Ok, onto the story!**

"You want our help?" Sirius blew a kiss towards all three girls as he spoke.

Riley rolled her eyes. "No, Black. _You _want _our _help. Understood?"

Emma quickly pulled her friend aside. "Riley!" she hissed. "We're trying to work together here, not hex them into oblivion!"

Alice smiled sweetly at the three boys. "Come on, you guys," she said coaxingly, "don't you want to see your friend happy?"

Remus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "She's got a point," he said to Sirius. "We might as well do Prongsie a little favor and help him out with the love of his life."

"Well, fine," Sirius grumbled, "but he owes me ten galleons for this."

"That's fine," Riley told him with a smug smile, "cause Lily owes me twenty."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Are you two going to start flirting—er, bickering—again?" she asked with a smirk.

Sirius put a hand on his heart. "I'm sorry Emma," he said dramatically, "but I just don't feel the same way for you. Try not to waste away with your love, sweetheart and remember that—"

"Oh, I won't waste away, believe me," Emma informed him dryly. She sighed. "Now, can we get back on topic? Plan Lily and James?"

"Wait," interrupted Sirius, "Marauders never follow plans with such unoriginal names."

Alice gave an exasperated sigh. "Okay, Mr. Fountain of Creativity, what's your idea?" She grinned at him. "Cats and dogs?"

"Hey!" Sirius leapt up indignantly. "How do you know about that?"

Alice waved a finger at him. "Never underestimate the power of an Eavesdropping Charm, Black."

Sirius frowned a little. "Wait…how come I don't remember the day we did that in Charms?"

"Because you skipped class to snog that fourth year Hufflepuff," Remus said slowly, as though speaking to a three year old.

"Oh, yeah!" Sirius smiled dreamily with the memory.

"How about Plan 243?" demanded Riley, getting all of them back on subject.

Sirius gave her a confused look. "Any particular reason why you picked that number?"

Riley shrugged. "It's my two hundred and forty third plan." As all of them gaped at her, she added defensively, "Hey! I happen to like doing this stuff."

"Fine," Remus agreed, mostly to stop the arguing over a name. "Plan 243. Now…what exactly are we going to do?"

A sly smile appeared on Emma's face. "Well, we are having a Winter Ball, aren't we?" she demanded. "Plenty of opportunity for romance."

"Yeah, but we better count Riley and Sirius out, since they'll be too busy snogging in the bushes," Peter piped up.

The rest of the group stared at him.

"Peter," Emma gasped, clutching her heart. "Did you just say something mildly bordering on intelligence?"

"Why, yes I did," beamed Peter, unaware that she was making fun of him. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

Emma closed her eyes. "Okay, _ew_," she shuddered, moving away from the mousy-looking boy. Peter looked crestfallen.

"Actually, I think I have an idea that might work before the ball," Alice spoke up. She shrugged. "Kind of a little warm up to the big plan."

And so, for the next few hours, they discussed plans and tactics. After several heated arguments, the group managed to come up with the beginnings of a plan. By then, though, it was curfew, so they agreed to meet later the next day. Everyone went up to bed, and a peaceful quiet enveloped Hogwarts castle.

XxxxX

Lily was so busy over the next couple weeks that she barely had any time for a social life. Besides the planning for the Winter Ball, which Sirius, Riley, Emma, and Alice had suddenly joined, she spent most of her spare time studying for midterm exams.

She was in the library one day when an owl suddenly swooped over to where she was sitting and dropped a piece of parchment on her book. Frowning, Lily opened the folded paper and read:

_Roses are red,_

_Merlins are blue,_

_I love you so much,_

_Do you like me too?_

Lily almost laughed aloud at the absurdity of it. Fortunately, she caught herself just in time, and though Madame Pince shot a suspicious look her way, she didn't say anything.

"Hey, Lily," Riley ambled in, chewing on a chocolate bar. "What's that?" she added innocently, noticing the paper in Lily's hand.

Lily blushed and handed it over. "A poem, I guess. Any idea who sent it to me?"

Riley read it and pretended to gag. "This is so cheesy it's almost cute," she remarked sarcastically, and then laughed casually. "Sounds like something James Potter would do."

Riley watched Lily's expression carefully for any signs, but the other girl only blushed a deeper red and turned away.

"Maybe," Lily mumbled. She was feeling a weird mix of emotions whenever someone mentioned James Potter. Not quite understanding what it was, she bade Riley good bye and hastily left the library.

Riley grinned to herself as she turned to Alice, Emma, Remus, and Sirius, who were all hiding behind a bookshelf.

"Well?" she asked, rather pleased with herself.

"It was definitely encouraging," Remus agreed.

He opened his mouth but before he could say more, Madame Pince swooped over the entire group and screeched, "Chocolate in my library?!? Get out!! Now!!" And she proceeded to whack all five of them with her broom as they fled the library.

**A/N: YAY!! Read and review this chappie, pretty please!!!**


	15. Chapter 15

"The ball is in five days, Lily," Emma pointed out a few weeks later. Although many such love notes and little presents had arrived on Lily's desk, Emma could tell that her friend was still hesitant about anything having to do with James Potter.

"I know!" Lily said, jumping up. "And I mean, I still have to plan out a menu, choose the songs, and—"

Emma rolled her eyes. Apparently Lily still wasn't getting the hint. "Lily, I'm talking about you. As in, you personally."

Lily paused in her rant and blinked. "What?"

Riley took a seat next to them and grinned. "Emma's right, Lily," she commented, sucking on a sugar quill. "Don't you have a date yet?"

"Oh," Lily sighed and put her chin in her hands. "No, not yet."

"Great," Riley said brightly, "cause we've already planned one for you."

Emma gaped at her friend. This was definitely not in the plan! "Riley," she said pointedly, "we do?"

"Of course," Riley answered, waving to Sirius as he passed by. "Leave it all up to us."

"Ummmm…no offense or anything, but I really don't think," began Lily.

"You can trust us," Riley interrupted, grinning. "No thanks needed. We wouldn't let our friend go dateless to the Winter Ball, you know."

"Who said I would—" Lily said indignantly, but Riley didn't let her finish.

"Just let us take care of the boy part," she said, patting Lily's hand. "All you have to worry about is getting ready."

"Well, I—fine," Lily sighed, walking away.

Emma stared at Riley. "_Us_?!?!" she fumed, crossing her arms. "What in the world possessed you to say 'us'?" she demanded.

Riley yawned. "Us as in me, you, Alice, Sirius, and Remus, of course," she answered. "And Peter," she added after a bit of thought.

Emma took a deep breath to calm herself. "You better have a good plan," she warned, standing up and brushing her robes off.

"Oh, I do," Riley assured her. "A blind date is just what Lily needs."

"A blind date?" Emma couldn't believe her ears. "Have you gone mental, Riley? We're trying to set Lily up with James, not some…some idiotic dolt from Hufflepuff?"

Riley laughed. "Relax, Emma. Her blind date isn't going to be some idiotic dolt from Hufflepuff, as you so elegantly put it." A group of first year Hufflepuffs glared at them and pointedly walked away.

"You're really going to try to set her up with Potter?" Emma said in disbelief. "It's never going to work, Riley."

"Watch me," Riley replied. "Or," she corrected herself, "I should say, watch me and Sirius."

"Oh Merlin," Emma muttered as Riley tossed her a grin and headed towards the Potions classroom.

After discussing the blind date plan with Sirius, Riley was more confident than ever that it was the right thing to do. Obviously they had been too subtle for the past two weeks. Sure, they'd made a few dents on Lily's emotions, but nothing major. Well, all that was about to change.

"Hey, Potter," Riley said, falling into step next to James.

"Frost," James nodded, still fiddling with the tiny Snitch in his pocket.

"Prongsie!" Sirius added, walking on James' other side. James paused for a minute and stared at the two.

"So anyways," Riley began hastily, before James could say anything, "you got yourself a date to the ball yet?"

"Nope," James said moodily, completely ignoring the group of swooning girls who had just passed.

"Mate, you need to give up on Evans," Sirius said seriously.

James sighed. "I know," he admitted, to Riley's surprise. She winked at Sirius behind James' back.

"So, why don't you let us find your date to the ball for you?" Riley suggested, grinning at James. "Trust me, there's a girl I know who's absolutely beautiful, funny, and smart."

James sighed. "No thanks," he replied. "I don't know if I even want to go to the ball."

"She has this really long, beautiful red hair," Riley continued, as though James hadn't spoken.

"Really? Red hair?" James stopped and looked at Riley with more interest. "Who is she?"

Riley smiled. "We'll let you meet her the night of the ball," she promised, pushing James towards his next class. He gave her a slightly confused look, but disappeared into the classroom.

"This better work," Sirius muttered, gripping Riley's hand tightly.

She nodded, swallowing. "I sure hope so," the brunette replied, watching as James took a seat next to Lily, who said something and gave him a friendly smile.

Sirius turned to Riley. "So," he said slyly, "I saw this hot Gryffindor the other day—with these legs! You think I should ask her to the ball?"

Riley gaped at him, open-mouthed, until she noticed the gleam in his eyes, and shoved him. "Yeah right!" she scoffed, turning away. "You didn't even meet any hot Gryffindor."

"Oh yes I did," Sirius replied, pushing her up against the wall, and before Riley had a chance to react, he kissed her deep and hard. She grinned as she realized what Sirius had meant.

"She says yes," Riley murmured, before Professor McGonagall swept by and promptly gave them both detention.

**A/N: AHH!! Okay, you all have permission to yell at me for not updating in so long. Sorry!! But you know, school's started and everything…(rolls eyes) But yea, here it is! Ch. 15!! Read and review pretty please??**

**ily,**

**Jo**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Don't you guys love me?? This is an awesomely long chapter!! YAY!! Thanx to all my fab reviewers!! This story is totally written for you guys :D**

The day of the ball drew closer and closer. Riley, Sirius, and Emma had been doing some hard-core planning, and, with a little luck and a lot of blackmail, they'd finally gotten Lily to go dress-robe shopping.

The redhead shivered as she stopped in front of a robe shop in Hogsmeade. "Why do I have to get new dress robes?" Lily complained for the millionth time.

Riley rolled her eyes. "Because we're your friends and we want you to look hot. Now go." She pushed Lily into the shop.

Madame Elysia, the owner of the tiny store, bustled forward to greet them. "Good afternoon, my dears," she said genially, while sipping a hot cup of coffee. "What can I do for you today?"

"We're looking for dress robes for our friend, Lily," Emma replied, before Lily had a chance to say anything.

Riley sidled over to Madame Elysia and whispered in her ear, "She doesn't really want to get dress robes, but we're trying to make her."

"Ah," Madame Elysia gave a furtive smile and winked at Riley. "I think I know how to fix this." She turned to Lily, who was shooting glares at Emma. "My dear, I would love to help you, but you know, your hair is just so different! It must be hard to find clothes to go with that shade. And your eyes, so odd…this will be a tough job, indeed…"

"Hey!" Lily cried out indignantly, folding her arms. "My hair and eyes are perfectly fine, thank you very much. And I'm sure I can find gorgeous robes in here to go with them," she added.

Madame Elysia covered a laugh with her hand and led the girls to the back of the shop. After about fifteen minutes of looking through the closets and closets of dress robes, Lily finally decided on a light green one that brought out the dark green of her eyes.

"You look beautiful," Emma pronounced, staring at her friend. She cast a sideways glance at Riley. "Maybe your plan will work after all," Emma whispered grudgingly.

Riley gave her a mock offended look. "How could anything planned by the great Riley Frost and her boyfriend go wrong?"

"Hmmm, I don't know," Emma said, pretending to think. She opened her mouth to speak again, but before she did, Riley hastily held out the box of Pumpkin Pastries she had in her hand. Emma's eyes widened and, forgetting about what she was going to say, promptly grabbed one.

XxxxX

Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were doing their best into sparking some more interest into James for the ball.

"She's a total hottie, man," Sirius assured him, casually popping a Chocolate Frog into his mouth.

"Yeah, probably," answered James, still doodling hearts on his Charms homework.

"Yes…er…she's a total…er…babe," Remus said awkwardly, casting a look at Sirius. "That is how you say it, isn't it?" he whispered sideways to his friend.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Remus, you're lucky you're smart."

"Thank you," replied Remus, choosing to ignore the implications of that statement.

Sirius sighed and turned back to James. "Trust me Prongsie, she's definitely worth the wait," he said. James nodded.

"Don't worry, James," piped up Peter. "I'm sure you won't get eaten by a bear or anything while making out in the woods." Remus promptly cast a silencing charm on him.

"Ah, no worries," James said, finally cracking a smile at Peter's stupidity. "All I have to do is show him Sirius' Transfiguration test and he'll laugh himself to death."

Sirius glared at him. "Or, we could just show him your Charms homework." He pointed his wand at James' parchment and the hearts rose off from the paper and began dancing in midair.

Remus groaned. "Oh stop it, you two. The point is," he said, turning to James, "you'll love the ball and we'll all have a great time. All right, mate?"

"Sure, Moony," James tried to look cheerful. "It'll be fun!"

After James had left for detention with McGonagall, Sirius and Remus finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"We need inspiration," Sirius muttered, taking a sip of some filched Butterbeer. "How can we brighten up Prongsie's spirit?"

Remus pretended to stroke a goatee. "I'm sure the girls will have an idea."

"An idea of what?" Emma, Riley, and Alice hurried in, snowflakes clinging to their hair from the weather outside.

"Jamesie-p—I mean, Prongs," Sirius corrected hastily, forcing Remus' wand arm down, "isn't very cheerful about the ball."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," agreed Riley, wringing some drops of water out of her thick hair. "Lily isn't exactly throwing a party over it either."

"Great, just what we need," commented, Alice, slipping off her coat. "A blind date where neither one is excited."

"They'll be excited once they take their masks off during the ball," Sirius assured her with a sly smile.

"There's another thing," spoke up Emma, throwing her own coat carelessly on the couch. "How do you know they'll take their masks off?"

Sirius made a face. "The point of a masked ball is to be masked for two seconds and then take it off."

Emma shook her head doubtfully. "I sure hope you're right." She pursed her lips. "There are just so many things that can go wrong with this plan."

"No worries," Riley assured her, cuddling with Sirius on the couch. "Everything'll go perfect."

A few hours later that night, Lily was finishing up some light reading in the library. Madame Pince's usual rule was to be out of the library by eight, but she had actually grown tolerant of Lily staying past that time since she was quiet and undisruptive.

"Hey, Lily," James entered the library (fortunately for him, Madame Pince's back was turned).

Lily looked up from her book and smiled at him. "Hey, James. How are you?"

"Tired," James replied, taking a seat next to him. He glanced at her book. "What's that?"

Lily blushed a little. "Er…educational stuff?" she lied feebly, trying to cover the title of the book with her hand.

James raised his eyebrows at her. Now what in the world could studious and willful Lily Evans be reading? He wrested the book from her. "The Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales?" he asked, trying to hide a grin.

Lily smacked him with the thick brown book. "Hey! They happen to be interesting, okay?"

"Oh really?" James asked with curiosity. Having grown up in a Pureblood wizarding family, he knew a lot of things that Lily didn't, but had no idea what "Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales were."

"They're Muggle writers," explained Lily, as though she had read his mind. She blushed. "There are actually a lot of good stories in here, believe it or not…"

James opened the volume and flipped through it slowly. "The Tin Man? The Little Mermaid? Sleeping Beauty?"

"Oooh, that's one of my favorites," interrupted Lily enthusiastically, stroking the pages almost lovingly. "It's about a princess who falls into an enchanted sleep for a hundred years until finally, her true love comes and wakes her with a kiss."

James looked amused. "Must be one lucky bloke, then."

Lily rolled her eyes. "They were predestined, okay? Blimey, boys are so thick these days," she shot him an ironic smile before gathering her things and leaving the library.

James grinned as he saw the swish of red hair disappear around a corner. He didn't really know why, but for some reason his night had suddenly gotten so much better. Shaking his head, he left the library, careful to put on the Invisibility Cloak when Madame Pince looked his way.

**A/N: Okay, ball coming up in the next chapter or so…hee hee I love keeping you guys in suspense! JK…reviews will make me really really really happy! (And besides, they'll get my muse going, hint hint wink wink)**

**ily,**

**Jo**


	17. Chapter 17

The day of the ball, Lily spent all morning and would've spent all afternoon planning, but for the fact that Riley, Emma, and Alice forced her to stop.

"Hey!" protested the redhead as Riley dragged her out of the Great Hall. "What are you doing?!? I have important things to do!"

"Agreed," Emma replied, flicking her wand so that the doors of the ballroom closed. "And they need to be done up in the girl's dorms, now."

Lily finally wrenched herself out of Riley's grip and rolled her eyes. "What in Merlin are you talking about?"

"We're talking about you," Alice told her seriously. "There's a lot of preparation involved on a blind date."

"Exactly," chimed in Riley, forcing Lily down into a chair in front of a huge charmed mirror. "We need to do your makeup, your clothes, your hair…"

"I'll say," the mirror inserted, sparkling a little. "What are those red things? Elongated carrots?"

Lily's mouth dropped open. "Well, excuse me!"

"And those eyes are nice, but some mascara is definitely needed," continued the mirror, heedless of Lily's glares.

Riley beamed fondly at the mirror, while the other three girls merely gaped in disbelief.

"Riley," Alice began, casting a doubtful look at the mirror, "where exactly did you get this, and more importantly, what is it?"

Riley waved a hand carelessly. "No worries, girls. This is the Enchanted Mirror, brand R73. My sister had it when she was a teen and passed it down to me."

"You look lovely, as always, my dear," the mirror purred, dusting Riley in a flurry of sparkles.

Emma scowled at it. "Rather fond of you, isn't it?"

"Well, I _did _rescue it from my older sister," pointed out Riley, as though this were common sense. "Besides, it's only telling the truth," she added jokingly. Emma threw a pillow at her.

The next two hours were spent in careful and deliberate applications of makeup to a very disgruntled Lily. She had struggled vehemently at first against it, but after some sarcastic remarks from the mirror, Lily had finally settled down and agreed.

The mirror was a constant annoyance to Emma and Alice, since it never shut up and always found something to comment on.

"My dear, your mousy brown hair is in serious need of some Witch's Weekly specialized conditioner," the mirror addressed Alice for the umpteenth time.

"Oh, for Merlin's sakes!" Alice fumed, exasperated. She grabbed Emma's silver hairbrush and threw it hard at the glass.

A long crack made its way up the side of the mirror, but Riley seemed unfazed. A second later, they realized why: the mirror simply sealed itself up again and admonished, "Why, how rude!"

"That was a problem with the R72 brand," Riley said absently, taking a pin out of her mouth. "People kept chucking things at it for no reason. Fortunately the inventors fixed that in this brand. Can you imagine, the poor defenseless R72 mirrors?"

"Yes, it's a mystery to me why they kept chucking things at it," Emma remarked sarcastically, with yet another glare.

Finally, though, they were done. Riley, Emma, and Alice stepped back to admire their work. Slowly, Lily stood up, and gaped at herself in the mirror, as though hardly believing it was her.

And it was a miraculous change. Her curly, slightly frizzy red hair had been combed down to a glossy sheen and was now fell in waves around her shoulders. Her green eyes were accented by subtle eyeshadow and layers of mascara. In all reality, Riley and Emma hadn't done that much, but what they had done made Lily's beauty shine all the more.

Alice picked up a simple white mask with gold beads and fitted it over Lily's eyes. "There," she said in satisfaction, smoothing down some wrinkles in the dress. "Let's go meet your mystery date."

"Where exactly are we going?" Lily asked nervously, stepping down out of the girl's dormitories. Whistles and catcalls came her way, but oddly enough, no one recognized her.

"We're going to meet your handsome stranger," replied Riley, pushing Lily out into the corridor.

James turned around at the sight of footsteps. Like Lily, he was dressed in formal attire and wore a white mask with black lining.

"Hi," James said, approaching Lily. He was astounded in spite of himself. Sure, Sirius and Remus had said that she was hot, but this girl…wow, she was really something.

"Hi," answered Lily, turning around to look at her friends—but they had disappeared. Lily stifled a sigh. Why wasn't she surprised?

"Well…er…shall we go, then?" James asked, looking down at Lily.

"Sure," Lily agreed, offering her hand to his. As soon as their palms touched, she felt a thrill of electricity go through her. She felt like she knew this person…but she couldn't quite put her finger on who it was.

People were already dancing down in the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a ballroom for that one night.

"Wow," gasped James. He knew that Lily had put a lot of hard work into this, but he had no idea it was going to be this grand.

"It is pretty good, isn't it?" agreed Lily, surveying the scene with satisfaction. All her hard work had really paid off.

James smiled at her, the thought of all other girls flying out of his head. "Would you like to dance?"

"I'd love to," answered Lily, offering him her arm.

If touching palms had made thrills of electricity go though Lily's body, it was nothing compared to _this. _She relaxed in James' arms, enjoying the dance.

From the sidelines, Emma and Alice watched the couple speculatively. "They haven't taken off their masks yet," Emma whispered.

"No, but there's definitely something there," Alice whispered back, grinning. She looked around for a second. "Where's Riley?"

"Somewhere dark and shadowy," answered Emma absently. She wasn't particularly interested in Riley and Sirius right now; their date was resolved. She wanted Lily and James to fall for each other. Hard.

"Ummmm…Alice?" a shy, male voice interrupted the two girls.

Alice looked up, and immediately a blush spread over her cheeks. "Oh. Hi, Frank."

"Hi," Frank twisted his hands together nervously and looked at her. "W-would you like to dance?"

Alice cast Emma a guilty look.

"Oh, go on," grumbled Emma, waving the other girl off. Alice grinned and stepped out onto the dance floor in Frank's arms.

Emma continued to watch Lily and James, but in her heart there was a small sense of loneliness. She'd never been infatuated with boys before—but now, watching all the couples lost in each other's eyes, she felt a sense of longing.

But the night was still young. Emma smiled to herself as she watched James take Lily's hand and lead her outside onto the balcony. Deciding to give the couple some privacy, Emma reluctantly stayed behind.

**A/N: Argh! Awkward ending! I'm really sorry everybody, but I couldn't really think of a graceful conclusion. Don't worry the ball is definitely NOT over yet!! I wanna make a few extra pairings in here so it might span two or three chappies…read and review, for the story's sake! (Oh and my sanity :D)**

**ily,**

**Jo**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Yes, y'all are allowed to kill me for not updating. Sorry everybody, and thanx to my loyal readers who have still kept up! I will try to update sooner now, for sure. But for those of you who do a fall sport, you know what I mean. School + sport dead free time.**

Remus watched the brunette from the shadow of a potted plant, wishing he had the courage to go over to her. They had spoken once or twice when plotting Plan 243, but even then it was careless, absent. He sighed.

Emma turned around slowly, feeling someone's eyes on her. She could clearly see someone standing in the shadowed corner—but who was it? She squinted a little, frowning.

Remus' stomach did flip flops. Yikes! She was looking at him! Directly at him! He gulped.

Emma's brain finally figured it out. "I should have known," she muttered to herself, with a small smile. Why hadn't it occurred to her before? She'd been so caught up in the whole Lily/James thing that she'd completely forgotten her own life. And Remus…Remus was strong. Steady. She walked over to him.

"Hey," Emma greeted him with a smile.

Remus was finding it even harder to breathe, she looked so beautiful in her dress. "Uh…hi," he answered a little awkwardly, looking down at her.

Emma smiled and offered him her arm. "Care to dance?"

Remus' grin lighted up his entire face. "I thought you'd never ask."

Meanwhile, Lily and James were enjoying the cool night air on the balcony. A gentle breeze swept by, teasing a few of Lily's curls out of her braid. James swallowed.

"So," he said casually, stuffing his hands in his dress robes (then realizing he had no pockets). "You're a Gryffindor, right?"

"Yes," Lily kept her voice a little lower than her normal tone. For some reason, she kind of wanted to keep her identity private. James' image flitted across her mind.

"You think we got any chance of winning the House Cup this year?" James asked, watching Lily's hand rest gently on the rail.

"I definitely think so," Lily said earnestly, turning to him. She smiled. "I suppose that cocky James Potter will make sure we get those Quidditch points."

"Do you like Potter?" James asked. His heart sounded like an Indian drum cry.

Lily twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "There's an interesting question. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, he's just some bloke I know pretty well," James answered, fighting to hide his grin.

Lily observed him speculatively. Who in the world could he be? she wondered. The question was starting to get frustrating and yes, a little repetitive.

"I think," she began, staring up at the sky, "he's a great guy. Most of the time."

"Oh?" James gave himself permission to rest a gentle fingertip on Lily's hand. "What about the other times?"

"Well, he can be pretty arrogant," Lily admitted. "But I suppose he has reason to be." She looked up at him and shrugged. "It's a girl thing."

"Touché," said James, a touch of amusement noticeable in his voice. "I don't suppose there'd be any use in asking you who you really are?"

Lily looked up into his hazel eyes, her own heart beginning to beat fast. "On a few conditions."

James moved closer, gently turning Lily's hand over and tracing tantalizing circles on her palm. "What conditions?"

"One, you can't ditch me later tonight," Lily said, trying to think straight. Her brain was becoming foggier and foggier.

"I promise," James agreed. "What else?"

"Two, you have to show me who you are," Lily said and, because it was getting harder to think, quickly said, "Three, you have to kiss me." _Whoa! _She thought, mentally berating herself. Why was she so bold all of a sudden?

"I think I can do that," murmured James, lifting his hands up to cup her chin. His fingers slowly moved up her face, lifting the white mask.

It took him a few seconds to recognize her in this moonlight. "Lily?" he gasped, taking a few steps back.

She looked at him curiously. "Yes. Is that so surprising?"

James had to keep from jumping up and down in ecstasy. He would definitely have to give Sirius an expensive gift later, he reminded himself.

He turned back to Lily and lifted her hands up so that she could help him remove his mask. Her gentle, slim fingers lifted the mask, and—

"James?" Lily's voice was incredulous, tentative. She immediately berated herself for acting like such a romantic fool. The thought only made her blush harder. He must think her such an idiot!

"Hey, hey," James, sensing what she was thinking, wrapped his arms around her upper body and kissed the top of her head. "Lily. It's okay." He breathed in the scent of her, sweet and innocent and seductive.

Lily turned away. "How can you even like me after this, James?" she asked. Her voice was barely a whisper.

James tipped her chin up. "You're everything I've ever wanted," he told her honestly, and then gave a wicked smile. "What about that third condition of yours, Lily?"

Lily gave a trembling smile. "It still stands."

"Well," James murmured, stepping closer. He took his time, running his hands through her hair and completely undoing hours of Riley's braiding work. "Let's get to it, then…"

Kissing Lily was like being in a dream, James decided. If heaven existed on earth, this was it, pure and simple. Right now, he didn't care if the world shattered to pieces—this, being with Lily and knowing she loved him, had made his life complete.

Riley set down the magically magnified binoculars and looked at Sirius triumphantly. "Ha. Within the first ten minutes." She held out her palm.

Grumbling, Sirius dug into his pockets and dropped five galleons into her hand. "I really ought to stop making bets with you," he whined, folding his arms. "I don't even have money for Zonko's anymore! Do you know what a sacrilege that is?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "No worries, Sirius. I'm sure James is planning to thank you with a huge and expensive gift."

Sirius' eyes lighted up. "Do you really think so?"

"Sure…" Riley said, rolling her eyes even more, if that was possible. "Now, can we go back to that broom closet?"

Sirius swept her up in his arms and the couple left their perch right above the balcony. "With pleasure, my lady."

**A/N: Finally, cliffie is ended! Woooo00000t!! I think the ball went pretty well, if I do say so myself. Especially since my muse is on hiatus from homework, yawn. A review would make me waaaaaaaay happy!!**

**ily,**

**Jo**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: AHHH!! Sorry for the extremely LONG hiatus. To all you loyal readers who are still sticking with this story, I love you much!! YAY!**

The ball effectively went on until about 1 a.m. in the morning, when an exasperated Professor McGonagall came marching down to the Great Hall in fuchsia colored pajamas and demanded that everyone, "Get out!". After threatening several detentions, the students reluctantly went up to their common rooms.

"That was," Riley began, breathing hard as they trudged up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Bloody awesome!" Sirius finished, grinning at his girlfriend. Remus rolled his eyes but, as he met Emma's bright smile, couldn't help chuckling a little himself.

Remus, Emma, Alice, Riley, and Sirius all gathered together in the common room, well aware of the absence of two of their friends.

"Well?" Emma looked expectantly around. "Was this plan a success, then?"

Sirius gave her a thumbs up. "Si, si, chiquita."

Riley gave him a weird look. "Sirius…have you been taking those language lollipops again?"

Sirius shook his head. "Nopes!"

"Anyways," Remus said pointedly. He reclined against the back of the couch and smiled. "I don't think the lovebirds will need any help."

Emma nodded her agreement. "It seems like it's all worked out perfectly."

Suddenly, a piercing shriek echoed through the corridors. Sirius, Remus, and Emma winced.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Sirius gasped, covering his ears. "It sounded like my Aunt Pearl singing in the showers…"

"You dimwits," Riley said, rolling her eyes. "It's the dulcet tones of Lily, of course."

And sure enough, at that moment, a soaking wet and furious looking Lily walked into the common room.

"Whoa, Lily," Sirius said, looking her up and down. "I must say, you're quite something in wet clothes."

Lily glared at him. "Oh shut up, Black," she growled. "Your friend Prongs decided that it would be healthy for me if we went for a little swim."

Riley held out her palm again. "Romantic mood spoiled within five hours," she said smugly.

Sirius looked like he was going to cry as he dumped the last of his galleons into Riley's hand. "I'll be having a word with Prongs," he said, glaring at his laughing friends.

Riley pulled Lily down onto the couch and grinned at her. "But despite everything, you still love Potter, right?"

Lily softened a bit. "I guess I do," she admitted, wringing out some water from her wet hair. "Although," she added, "he'll be stuck showering in cold water for quite some time."

Emma laughed. "All's fair in love and war," she commented.

Hogwarts was peaceful and quiet—at least for now.

**A/N: Aaaaaaaand…it's over. (sob) But hey! I do promise to start on another story ASAP. Thanks for reading you guys, and reviews would be awesome!**

**ily,**

**Jo**


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